RAH crisis goes on

The situation at the RAH continues to give cause for concern. And for avoidance of any doubt, I am not criticising nor complaining about the staff who are doing their best in difficult conditions. Just last week I had another phone call about a staff member who was complaining about the situation for patients at A&E. I was told that patients were lying on trolleys for 8 hours or more despite a target to be dealt with in 4 hours at the most. I suppose it’s better than the 20 hours wait on a trolley reported a few weeks ago, but it’s still not good enough. Staff are often at breaking point and it’s not fair on patients who need treatment. After recent revelations of problems at A&E, the SNP promised just over £30 million per year for the next three years. But this is not enough. We know that their Health Budget is underspent. That’s right; they are not spending the money they have for Health. On top of this we know that the SNP Government will be given an extra £211 million from the Barnett consequential and not all of this has been allocated. That’s why Scottish Labour wants to see an NHS Frontline Fund using £100 million of this money. Staff and patients can’t take much more of the A&E problems. The money is there, so start using it now.